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Bringing Literature To Life For Sixth Grade "Reluctant Readers": A Collaborative, Participatory Study Using Theatre For Young Audiences Experiences To Address Aliteracy, Wayne Brinda

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the current disenchantment toward reading literature among adolescents, this study explored if an Artistic Director of a Theatre for Young Audiences could lead the transformation of aliterate, sixth grade "reluctant readers" into becoming engaged readers of literature? These students have the basic skills to read, but choose not to read for a variety of reasons. The study used the intervention of specific, collaborative theatrical strategies, which are alternative approaches to traditional middle school reading pedagogy. The strategies included rehearsal techniques, organizing small group "Production Teams," preparing for and experiencing a theatrical adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time, and actively …